A romance dealing with anxiety, PTSD, therapy sessions, and re-living trauma. This could get to be real heavy but there‘s still a bit of levity in Bet On It. Aja and Walker are falling in lust because they are unable to admit the other L word to each other but somehow they do feel comfortable sharing their experiences with anxiety and childhood trauma. The bedroom door is wide open in this romance. Cute and entertaining.

#arc #romance

Going to dive into this book since we‘re in the middle of another snow day ⛄️

“It's not as if I asked for the pressure, but I can't pretend it's not there. If I mess up that gives Owen Caldwell the excuse he needs to ignore the resume of every black woman that comes across his desk. He can simply say they tried it, but the last one they hired didn't work out. Why should they take a chance on another?”

A little bit “Rear Window" a little bit “Pretty in Pink”. Ingrid‘s having a hard time sleeping and it‘s not what this star athlete needs in her junior year. Why can‘t Ingrid remember what caused her accident? There‘s also something creepy going on in the vacant house next door. “The Insomniacs” is a romantic mystery as Ingrid tries to piece together what happened. Will Ingrid return to the person she was or will she forever fear the future?

I‘ll be squeezing in a few more pages of “Mama Day” and maybe some bookish podcasts 🎧 to celebrate 🎊

🎉🎂 HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY HENRIETTA LACKS! 🎉🎂 I‘m so late to the party but you deserve all the flowers 💐 and recognition for changing modern medicine.

"I Found This Great Book" podcast led me to this debut cozy mystery. Alex takes on the role of the bothersome amateur sleuth trying to prove her aunt can't be guilty of murder. We follow along as Alex gets herself caught up in deadly situations as she uncovers the truth about the murder and her mythical family. About 99% of the characters are white so if you want diversity, you're not going to find it here. This is a pleasant read. #cozymystery

Delightful. Very little conflict between Dani and Zafir probably because it is a fake relationship. I am not into the fake relationship trope but the reason for this one is sweet enough that you can support it. And don't let the cartoon cover fool you it is steamy. ⠀
⠀
I am curious about some reviews that have trigger warnings for this book. Did anyone else feel like it needed a TW?

“Black people love their children with a kind of obsession. You are all we have, and you come to us endangered.” ― Ta-Nehisi Coates

#blacklitsy

“People don't have any mercy. They tear you limb from limb, in the name of love. Then, when you're dead, when they've killed you by what they made you go through, they say you didn't have any character. They weep big, bitter tears - not for you. For themselves, because they've lost their toy.”

"If you want to be a part of this family, then you have to do what it takes to be forgiven." Tragedy strikes the Amir sisters and with it comes secrets, lies, and weakening family bonds. The story was slow to build as we start off with intros to each character but picks up soon after. Perfect for readers who like sweet endings and their fiction on the light side.

I haven‘t read Agatha Christie in YEARS. I figured now would be a good time to start back up with the book that introduced us to M. Hercule Poirot.

Identical twins obsessed with the English language, so much so that they use “Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition” as their guiding light in life. We read along as the inseparable Wolfe girls grow into their independent selves. What happens when the sibling who was once so much like you becomes a different person?

If a privileged white community that summers on the coast while the less privileged brown community earns their keep year-round is your kind of story, read this. Also, really long. I found myself repeatedly going back to re-read a passage because I zoned out.

Yeah she is! 5 short stories about 88 year old Maude the anti Jessica Fletcher.

#murder #murder2020

An amazing essay collection curated to include Latin American, Caribbean, and American women writers. It gives just enough of a taste for a newbie to research these historical facts more. This book is also a reminder of the devastation these women faced and the strength of their perseverance.

This is my catnip - strangers brought together by a winter storm. There are quite a few characters and I found myself mixing them up at times. It‘s still a charming read.

Showed a lot of self restraint yesterday and only bought 2 books at a book fair. And it was a LOT of restraint because all books were at least 50% off😬
#blacklitsy

‘Hi, Karin said. It was an unusual hello, warm and spiky.
Hi, said Sloane. She has a way of saying hello that is at once inquisitive, judgmental, and a little bit sensual.‘
Huh, what is a warm and spiky hi? How is a greeting 3 feelings rolled into one? This isn‘t the only passage like this. I‘m 40+ pages in and the descriptors either contradict themselves or make little sense.

It was a visit your independent bookstore kind of weekend.

Finally made it to the Lit Bar bookstore today and it was ❤️ at first sight 😍

“Words are seeds, Casiopea. With words you embroider narratives, and the narratives breed myths, and there is power in the myth. Yes, the things you name have power.”

No. I‘m so disappointed. This book was a bait and switch. Imagine being in the head of a “Real Housewife” as she tries to organize her 40th birthday. If that‘s your thing, this is the book for you. Less about murder, more about climbing the social ladder.

Is this poetry? Is it a book of essays? Is it a series of awkward conversations? It could be one or all 3, you be the judge. Not a book you read on the go. There is a rhythm that gets lost if you stop in the middle of a chapter. I found it hard to pick up again and would have to backtrack to find the pace.

What do you do when there‘s a heatwave and you can‘t even bat your eyelids without breaking into a sweat? Try and find a cool spot for a long day of reading. 

I strongly recommend this for teenage readers. If you need to take a break from studying, something to read between classes, or on your commute this is a good choice. 

Trigger warning - there is a chapter dedicated to her eating disorder in the ARC.

#blacklitsy

I went through a phase where all I wanted to read, could read, was Toni Morrison. I still can‘t put into words how her books, her characters made me feel but I am so glad we have her legacy.
#blacklitsy

If anyone knows a young reader in NYC, JetBlue has placed a free book vending machine in every borough. https://soarwithreading.com/book-vending-machines/ #bookdrop

I am 50 pages in and this is a struggle. Does anyone know if it gets better? #Bail#Imminent

Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there‘s more growing to be done.

I said I wasn‘t going to buy any more books but then the New York Public Library had it‘s first Lit Fest at the Schomburg so that was that....😬 #zeroregrets #blacklitsy

Reading on rainy Sundays is my thing.
#blacklitsy

I can see why the reviews on this are so mixed. All I can say is you will have STRONG feelings should you choose to read it.

“I search for you in lost fields.
Hear me, my dear. Your loved ones wait here.”

”who pushed you into the world so bent? who sent you here so broken?”

#blacklitsy #21ninety #poetry

This is making my, usually annoying, work commute fly by. I‘m going to need to finish this tonight because my nerves can‘t take it.

#blacklitsy

🍭 Brain Candy 🍭 craving fulfilled.

Even if I didn‘t get why this simile was necessary 🤷🏾‍♀️
“He greeted her companion with a nod and a handshake - the posh gent‘s version of rappers raising their chins and bumping fists...”

“What I remember most about the whole ordeal...is how nothing about who I was in any other context mattered to the assumptions of my incompetence...All of my status characteristics screamed ‘competent‘, but nothing could shut down what my blackness screams when I walk into the room.”
#blacklitsy

Book and a candle.

@WilliamMorrowBooks

Spent today trying a new pattern and my first audiobook in a long time.

I groaned out loud when I read Fatimah‘s “Microaggression Bingo”. I feel your pain girl.

#litsyatoz

“I feel like a thing. A thing to be explained and understood, tolerated and accepted. A thing that spends too much time educating people so it doesn‘t have to educate itself on what it has become. I feel like a thing that just can‘t be.”

#litsyatoz

How I‘m surviving (what I hope is🤞🏾) the final heatwave of 2018.

“any memory that tells me I am ugly
is a liar I know how to kill.
any memory that tells me I am damaged
is a liar I know how to kill.
any memory that tells me I died in childhood
is a liar I know how to kill.”

#blacklitsy #poetry

I so loved this modern interpretation of Antigone that Classical Theatre of Harlem is offering for free!

#BLM #blacklitsy #blacklivesmatter #harlem

This is filming in my hood so I stopped by the library to pick up a copy. 🎥🍿😎

#ya

After a week of 💯 degree weather + humidity💦, today feels like a good day to finally start my, no longer, advanced reader‘s edition of “Between You & Me”.

@WilliamMorrowBooks #litsyatoz

I feel like we should all be asking ourselves, is there a place for us?

“Two sisters and their half brother orphaned in 1900s Virgin Islands. Each unusually beautiful and in possession of a particular magic that will either destroy or save them.” @RiverheadBooks brought their pop up reading room to Langston Hughes‘ home in Harlem ☺️
#blacklitsy

It was only after picking this book that I learned Bad Monkey should not be my introduction to Hiaassen. Is the plot why? Learning who the killers are and why they did it but then spending 75% of the book following Health Inspector Yancy as he tries to build a case? That's right, health inspector. How does a Health Inspector get away with investigating a murder? I guess I'll never know because this book went back to the library.

Power reading "Red Clocks" to get it back to the library by tomorrow ?

#litsyatoz